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Matt Serra
| birth_place = East Meadow, New York | death_date = | death_cause = | residence = | nationality = American | height = | weight = | weightclass = 170 | reach = | style = Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Boxing | stance = | fightingoutof= East Meadow, New York | team = Serra Jiu-Jitsu | rank = black belt in BJJ | yearsactive = 1999–present | mmawins = 10 | mmakowins = 2 | mmasubwins = 4 | mmadecwins = 4 | mmalosses = 6 | mmakolosses = 2 | mmasublosses = | mmadeclosses = 4 | mmadraws = | mmancs = | url = | sherdog = 1305 | footnotes = | updated = October 18, 2009 }} Matthew John Serra (born June 2, 1974) is an American mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. He is a former UFC Welterweight Champion and an ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship silver medalist. He began practicing martial arts at an early age, first studying kung fu. In the 1990s, he began studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Renzo Gracie and on May 23, 2000 was awarded his black belt, the first American to do so under Gracie. Biography Early career Serra won first place at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Pan American games in 1999 and won third place at the 1999 World Championships in Brazil as a brown belt.ATLETA Continuing his Martial Arts career, he competed in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship choking out Takanori Gomi, winning a decision over Jean-Jacques Machado, and placing 2nd in the 66–76 kg division. Serra was invited to compete in Pride 9 against Johil de Oliveira but the bout was called off at the last minute when Oliveira was burned in a pyrotechnics accident backstage. Soon after, Matt began to compete in the UFC organization where he built up a record of four wins and four losses. The Ultimate Fighter Matt later became a participant in The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback on SpikeTV. On the show, Serra defeated Pete Spratt and Shonie Carter to reach the finals, his win against Carter avenging his infamous highlight-reel KO loss to Carter at UFC 31. On November 11, 2006, Serra defeated Chris Lytle by split decision to become the Ultimate Fighter 4 Welterweight Tournament Champion. His win earned him a guaranteed title shot against Georges St. Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship,UFC 79: Hughes vs. St. Pierre III for Interim Title as well as a $100,000 contract and $100,000 sponsorship with Xyience.http://www.ultimate-fighter.ca/ufc-fighter.php?id=67 Winning the title Serra fought St. Pierre on April 7, 2007, and won the UFC Welterweight title via TKO at 3:25 of the first round. Prior to the fight, Serra was considered a substantial underdog. The Ultimate Fighter coach Serra coached season 6 of The Ultimate Fighter reality show with Matt Hughes. Team Serra finished 6-2 in the first round of fights, winning six consecutive times which gave Serra the right to pick the fights in the second round. However, from then on Serra didn't corner a single fighter to victory and saw all his guys eventually lose out. The finale saw Team Hughes fighters Tommy Speer and Mac Danzig face each other for the title of Ultimate Fighter.Morning Beatdown: Mac Danzig vs. Tommy Speer Matt Serra said in season 6 of The Ultimate Fighter reality show that Joe Scarola lost his job at Serra's jiu-jitsu school for quitting The Ultimate Fighter within the first week of the show. In exchange Scarola opened his own academy which has created a feud among the two former friends. Joe Scarola: ‘Nerves got to me’ in loss to Mac Danzig on TUF 6 (Audio) Relieving Scarola from his duties was difficult for Serra as the two were close friends, with Scarola serving as best man at Serra's wedding.http://www.cagetoday.com/interview-joe-scarola-opening-his-own-bjj-academy/ The two coaches were scheduled to face off for the UFC welterweight title at the conclusion of the series on UFC 79. Serra, however, was forced to withdraw from the fight due to a herniated disc in his lower back.http://ballhype.com/story/serra_injured_withdraws_from_ufc_79_card/ The injury became evident when Serra was demonstrating a move to his student and fell to the floor in excruciating pain.UFC : Ultimate Fighting Championship In Serra's place, Georges St. Pierre fought and defeated Matt Hughes for what was now the interim UFC welterweight title.http://www.nowpublic.com/sports/georges-rush-st-pierre-defeats-matt-hughes-ufc-79 This led to Serra holding the welterweight title while St. Pierre held the interim title. After St. Pierre vs Hughes at UFC 79, Serra confirmed to NBC Sports that his back was rapidly improving. He announced that he was scheduled to fight Georges St. Pierre at the first event to take place in Canada, UFC 83. This match would unify the interim and regular welterweight belts. Rematch with St-Pierre and fight with Matt Hughes At UFC 83 on April 19, 2008, Serra fought Georges St.-Pierre in a match to determine the undisputed welterweight championship during the UFC's first-ever event in Canada, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec.http://www.canadastarboxing.com/ufc/2008/ufc83/bout.htm Instead of striking, St-Pierre pressed the action early with a takedown and kept mixing up his attack, never allowing Serra the chance to mount a significant offense.http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/UFC-83-Play-by-Play-12383 In the second round, St-Pierre continued his previous actions, forcing Serra into the turtle position and delivering repeated knees to Serra's midsection.http://www.pointspread.com/Misc/Boxing/content/UFC-87-odds:-Seek-%2526amp%3B-Destroy When Serra was unable to improve his position or defend against the strikes, referee Yves Lavigne stopped the fight.http://archive.is/20120717171958/mmajunkie.com/news/4176/ufc-83-live-results.mma Though St-Pierre demoralized Serra in the ring he was gracious to his defeated opponent and asked the crowd to restrain themselves and show Serra some respect to which the crowd cheered Serra. Serra in turn bowed graciously before St-Pierre. Serra suffered a close unanimous decision loss to Matt Hughes at UFC 98. Serra hurt Hughes early on in the fight with an inadvertent head-butt and a follow-up flurry of looping hooks. However, Hughes recovered and went on to win a close decision that could have gone either way. http://www.mmaontap.com/mma/category/Matt-Serra/ After UFC 98 At UFC 109 Serra defeated Frank Trigg via KO (punches) at 2:23 of the very first round, awarding him Knock Out of the Night Honors. Matt Serra was rumored to be headlining UFC Fight Night 22 on April 17th 2010 versus Mike Swick, but the fight has been turned down by Swick due to an arm injury. The UFC has now canceled this event. For UFC 111, Dan Hardy has invested in Matt Serra to train him for his upcoming bout against Georges St. Pierre. Dan Hardy considers himself in the same position Serra was in back in UFC 69. Personal life Serra was born to an Italian-American family and currently resides in East Meadow, New York.UFC : Ultimate Fighting Championship Matt and his wife Ann were married on May 26, 2007.Blog entry that states when they were married The couple had their first child, a daughter named Angelina, on February 11, 2009. Serra and his brother Nick, run two Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schools at local strip malls in East Meadow, New York and Huntington, New York. Serra currently trains with Ray Longo and trains fighters including,Pete Sell,http://www.mmaplayground.com/article/matt-serra-36.html and Luke Cummo.http://www.mmafighting.com/interviews/2007/04/02/qa-luke-cummo-prepares-a-battle-ufc-69 They fight under the Serra/Longo Competition Team. Championships and achievements Grappling credentials ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships ADCC 2001 66–76 kg: 2nd place Record of opponents: *Won: Takanori Gomi (sub), Jean Jacques Machado (pts), Leonardo Silva Dos Santos (sub) *Lost: Marcio Feitosa Souza (Conceded victory.) CBJJ World Championships 1999 Brown Belt Medio: =3rd Place Pan-American Championships 1999 Purple Belt Medio: 1st place. ῼ Mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Championship :UFC Welterweight Champion (Former) :The Ultimate Fighter 4 Welterweight Tournament Winner :Fight of the Night Honors :Knockout of the Night Honors Mixed martial arts record * Note: His record does not include his two wins while on the Ultimate Fighter as they are classified as exhibition bouts. References External links *Matt Serra MySpace *Matt Serra profile *Official site * *Matt Serra's blog about The Ultimate Fighter 4 *Serra talks Frank Trigg fight Category:American mixed martial artists Category:Mixed martial artists from New York Category:Living people Category:American practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Category:Ultimate Fighting Championship champions Category:Welterweight mixed martial artists Category:1974 births fr:Matt Serra ja:マット・セラ pt:Matt Serra fi:Matt Serra sv:Matt Serra